


No more secrets pt 2

by HammerToFall



Series: HP Next Gen [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-30 00:02:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HammerToFall/pseuds/HammerToFall
Summary: In which Albus comes out to a not-surprised Ginny and a VERY surprised Harry.





	1. Chapter 1

It had been exactly sixty three days since that fateful morning by the lake and Scorpius had never felt so happy. He and Albus spent their free time together in much the same way as they always had - sometimes studying, but other times just hanging out. Scorpius was glad that things hadn't changed too much. He had been worried that in making Albus his boyfriend he might end up losing his best friend. But that wasn't the case. He was tired, having stayed up late last night studying with Albus, so he was paying less attention than he ordinarily would have in History of Magic. His mind was wandering pleasantly over the events of last night.

They had spent the evening working on their transfiguration essays in front of the fire in the common room. They had been sat in the middle of a pile of books, helping each other out with the work, joking and laughing their way through it. And it had been so normal, and so much like it always had been that Scorpius had actually completely forgotten for a bit that he and Albus were together now. He only remembered when they found themselves the last ones still up in the common room, just past midnight, and Albus had leaned over and kissed him. Scorpius had returned this kiss with enthusiasm, and that had been it. He only had a few sentences left to write, but Scorpius had abandoned the essay completely, and chose to push the books out of the way and recline on the rug with Albus in his arms instead. It was so cosy, in front of the fire. Just the two of them. They had starting kissing, slowly and gently. It felt romantic. But then the more they kissed the more it seemed to awaken something, in the both of them. And before Scorpius knew it their bodies were pressed together and they were kissing fiercely, breathing heavily. Albus had been running his hands all over Scorpius, putting them up his shirt to feel his bare back and chest.

It hadn't gone any further, because they were in the common room after all. But Scorpius found himself wishing it could have. Albus was still looking at him hungrily as they made their way upstairs to bed, and had given him a cheeky wink as they each climbed into their own separate beds. It was frustrating beyond belief that Albus was only three feet away but there was no way of them being together. Not particularly because of the sex stuff, Scorpius was more craving the intimacy. He often bunched up his covers and hugged them, pretending that he was in bed snuggling with Albus. It would be so nice. Although Scorpius couldn't pretend that he wasn't becoming increasingly interested in the sex stuff. But he was determined that he wasn't just going to grope Albus in some secluded hallway somewhere, like Mark had. Albus was wonderful and special and Scorpius was going to treat him as such. 

He had thought that he could wait until Christmas for them to finally share a bed but their kissing sessions were getting increasingly hot and heavy, and Scorpius thought they might end up getting carried away soon, whether they meant to or not. Scorpius was indulging himself, imagining what that might be like, when Professor Binns's voice pulled him back to the present.

"Mr Malfoy, a word before you go, if you please."

Scorpius realised that everyone around him was putting their things away and starting to leave the classroom. He could feel his face burning, even though nobody could possibly know what he'd been thinking about. He tore his mind away from Albus's exquisite body and began to wonder nervously what Professor Binns could want. Was he about to be reprimanded for not paying attention in class?

"I just wanted to let you know that I've been summoned by an old colleague of mine to help translate some ancient texts this weekend. I shall be out of town, so we won't be able to work on the paper tomorrow."

"Oh right" said Scorpius, relieved.

"I apologise for the short notice, but Professor Marsh has only just acquired these texts, he and I have been attempting to track them down for years. It really is quite exciting."

Scorpius smiled. Even when Professor Binns was genuinely excited he still spoke in the same flat, monotone voice.

"That's OK sir" he said.

"We shall pick it up again the weekend after. I daresay you'll appreciate having a free Saturday for a change."

Scorpius smiled politely and left the classroom. He was actually quite disappointed. They had already submitted his first paper to be published and were in the process of redrafting following the editor’s review. They had been working on getting his work published for such a long time, and now they were SO close, it was quite annoying really to have to wait another whole week to work on it again. He trudged down to the Slytherin common room. History had been his last class of the day, he had a free period now, but Albus still had Care of Magical Creatures this afternoon, so he figured he'd read a book for a while before dinner. Actually, on second thoughts, maybe he'd take a nap, he was exhausted from his late night last night. So he headed straight to the dormitory and lay down on his bed, fully clothed. 

 

-

 

Scorpius woke up with Albus lying on the bed spooning him, gently kissing the back of his neck.

"Hmmm" he sighed contentedly. He opened his eyes and saw that Albus had drawn the hangings around the bed so that no-one would be able to see them there together if they came into the room. He rolled over to kiss Albus, entwining their legs together and resting his hands on Albus's chest, while Albus ran his hands up Scorpius's shirt again.

"Hmmm, you're driving me crazy with that" Scorpius whispered, in between the kisses.

Albus said nothing, but undid the buttons on his own shirt so his bare chest and torso were exposed. Scorpius ran his hands over it, enjoying the feel of Albus's smooth skin. They were both breathing deeper now, the kisses were searching and hungry. But before it could go any further they heard the dormitory door open and someone came in to drop off their bag. Both Albus and Scorpius froze, not making a sound, until whoever it was left again.

"I guess we should be getting down to dinner" Albus said, looking disappointed. But Scorpius was grinning ear to ear. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with his free Saturday morning.

 

-

 

The following morning Scorpius stayed in bed reading after he woke up. Albus was either actually sleeping in or pretending to (Albus could sleep until noon sometimes if left to his own devices). But Scorpius would have to wait until their roommates had all gone down to breakfast to find out.

One of them got up reasonably early and left without a word to anyone. The other two slept in for what felt like much longer. Scorpius was feeling impatient. He gritted his teeth behind his book while they were getting dressed, painfully slowly. It was as if they were TRYING to take as long as possible to leave the room. Scorpius knew that they were probably moving at a normal pace really, and it was his own excitement and anticipation that seemed to be slowing things down. But he couldn't help himself from scowling over the top of his book at them as they finally left. They didn't notice. None of their roomates ever paid Scorpius or Albus the slightest bit of attention, and generally they liked it that way.

Once he could no longer hear their footsteps on the stairs he turned to look at Albus, who was indeed awake, and was holding his cover up, inviting Scorpius in. Scorpius didn't need to be asked twice. He jumped off his own bed and then slid in next to Albus, pulling the hangings around them.

Once he was in the bed he suddenly felt nervous. He hadn't expected to be nervous. This was Albus, there was nothing to be nervous about. All the same, Scorpius was very aware that there was only a couple of inches separating them. He could feel the heat from Albus's body, they were so close.

Albus smiled and took Scorpius's glasses off. He hadn't even realised he was still wearing them. As Albus turned round to place them on his bedside table, Scorpius slid over, closing the gap between them and hugged him from behind. Albus sighed contentedly and held onto his arms. This was nice. He could stay here like this forever. Scorpius felt himself relaxing. He kissed Albus's shoulder blades through his t-shirt.

"Scorp, listen..." Albus said quietly. "I'm not expecting anything you know. We can just stay here and cuddle for a bit. This is nice enough."

Scorpius stopped kissing and frowned.

"What made you say that?" He asked.

"You looked terrified just now." Albus rolled over so they were face to face and said earnestly "don't feel like you need to do anything to - I dunno, keep me happy or whatever. I'm perfectly happy just being with you."

Scorpius felt a little embarrassed. Sometimes it really struck him that Albus was much more experienced in this area than he was. It made him feel slightly inadequate, somehow.

"I'm not scared" he said defensively. Albus looked a little taken aback at his tone and Scorpius realised he was being immature.

"OK, l am a little" he admitted. "But in a good way. Like, the same way I was scared the first time you kissed me."

"I thought you were scared then because you thought I wasn't that into it."

"That's not what I meant." Scorpius sighed. This was going much less smoothly than he had hoped. "I'm just a little nervous Al, that's all."

Albus nodded understandingly and kissed Scorpius gently on the cheek.

"Let's just take it slow" he said. 

 

-

 

And so they did. They spent the whole morning in bed together, kissing and cuddling and letting things slowly heat up. And nervous though he was, Scorpius was vastly relieved to discover that he did NOT have the same problems in this area that he had previously. Apparently his body wanted Albus VERY much. And judging from his reaction, Albus wanted him very much too.

Afterwards Scorpius lay on his back with Albus's head resting on his chest. They were both naked, but Scorpius didn't feel embarrassed or exposed. He enjoyed the feel of their skin touching. Not in the same white hot way he had before. No, this was something much more gentle and tender than that. He just felt very close to Albus. Like he never had with anyone else. He felt like he was in some sort of bubble, where only the two of them existed. And it was wonderful. He thought he might burst from happiness. But at the same time he felt incredibly calm. Serene, even. This must be what heaven feels like, he thought.

He kissed Albus gently on the forehead and whispered:

"I love you, Albus."

Albus's eyes flickered open. He looked surprised, but happy. 

"I love you too Scorp."

 

-

 

They must have dozed off, because the next thing Scorpius knew he was being woken up by the sound of two of their roommates coming in, having a half-argument. He was spooning Albus again, their naked bodies pressed together. He could feel Albus was tense, and so knew that he must be awake too.

"Jeez, you try to help a guy out and he pulls you into the sodding lake" one of their roommates was saying, but sounding more amused than annoyed.

"I didn't mean to pull you in OK?" The other one replied grumpily. "You were SUPPOSED to stop me falling in, it's not my fault you've got terrible balance!"

"My balance is just fine when no one is grabbing my arm and pulling me down thank you very much."

Scorpius had to suppress a giggle. His slight spasm seemed to alarm Albus, who took a sharp intake of breath (which was fortunately silent). Scorpius squeezed his hand, hoping to indicate that it was going to be OK, as long as they kept quiet. Their roommates seemed to be getting changed out of their wet clothes, still bickering about whose fault it had been that they both fell in the lake. Scorpius saw no reason why they should open Albus's bed hangings.

All the same, he felt nerves start to creep over him himself as he thought about what potentially COULD happen, should he and Albus be discovered there. Lying naked in bed together. I mean, there was no explaining that away was there?

But then, he challenged himself, even if they were discovered to be doing exactly what it was they had been doing, what was the worst that could happen? So everyone knew they were gay - that didn't bother Scorpius one bit. In fact, he smiled as he imagined himself proudly walking through the halls, confidently holding Albus's hand. Beaming at everyone as if to say - look! Look how fantastic he is, and he actually wants to be with me! He's all mine!

Although he had to admit, being found out as Albus's boyfriend was one thing, but being caught shagging was entirely another. He didn't think their roommates would be particularly comfortable imagining that every time the lights went out Albus and Scorpius had their hands in each other’s pants.

He had just reached the internal conclusion that however uncomfortable that knowledge would be for everyone involved, he didn't care about people finding out about him and Albus  (the relationship OR the shagging), when their roommates said something about lunch and exited the dorm again. 

Albus breathed out loudly, as though he had been holding his breath.

"Shit that was close! I was trying so hard not to make a noise!" He sat up and began pulling his boxers on. Scorpius poked his head out of the hangings and looked around cautiously, even though he knew no one was there. He then got out of the bed and walked over to his own dresser, pulling out clean underwear.

"It wasn't that close" he said calmly. "They had no idea we were in here. And there was no reason for them to look in your bed."

His calm tone seemed to confuse Albus, who was getting dressed at lightning speed, pulling on the t-shirt he had slept in and some jeans that were lying on the floor near his bed.

"Still fucking terrifying though! Don't you think?!" He said. "Can you imagine if they HAD found us. Jesus!" He shuddered slightly at the thought. Scorpius felt a little offended, but knew that he should let Albus calm down before they discussed it any further. 


	2. Chapter 2

Albus stood still, his eyes closed, looking up at the shower head, letting the hot water fall on his face. His heart had finally stopped hammering and he was feeling much calmer. The shock and fear of almost being caught had worn off and he now felt blissfully happy again. He was thinking about everything that had just happened. The shower was always a good place to think. He thought about how wonderful that morning had been. Not just the sex, it was way more than that. He thought about Scorpius whispering 'I love you' and a shiver went down his spine.

His happiness started to ebb as he also thought about Scorpius's face when Albus had been panicking about their roommates catching them. He knew he needed to apologise.

When Albus emerged from the shower and stepped back into the dormitory, Scorpius was already back from taking his own shower in the other bathroom down the hall. Albus must have been in the shower a long time. Scorpius was sat on the edge of his bed looking at the floor, apparently deep in thought. He looked serious. He looked up at Albus as he walked over, his expression inscrutable. 

"Sorry if I freaked out a little" Albus said without preamble. "I don't want you to think I'm sorry about what happened or that I'm ashamed or something. I'm really happy Scorp. About being with you"

He took Scorpius's hand and looked into his eyes. Scorpius expression lightened and his shoulders relaxed a little, but he still looked quite serious.

"I think we ought to talk about what we're going to tell people, Albus. If we're going to tell people, that is" he said.

Albus swallowed nervously. He had another flashback to Mark, not too long before Albus had called time on the whole thing, saying "my mates would string me up if they found out I was shagging a Slytherin..." He pushed it to the back of his mind. Scorpius was hardly going to say something like that. But Albus was scared all the same.

They both stared at each other for a moment, before Albus pleaded "You go first."

"OK..." Scorpius stood up and took a deep breath, with the air of someone about to give a very important speech.

"I just want to say that I'm very happy. You make me very happy. And I meant what I said... in there..." he nodded towards Albus's bed a little awkwardly, and then cleared his throat. "I know it's a bit... awkward... that we share a room with three other guys. And I understand that it's a bit... uncomfortable. Especially with the... sexy-type-stuff..." he was blushing now. "But I want you to know that I don't care if they know. The only people whose opinions matter to me are yours and my dad's. And my dad already knows, so..."

Something was stirring in Albus's memory. He did recall Scorpius saying something about talking to his dad, but that had been difficult to decipher what with all the rambling. And the events that followed had very much obscured it from his consciousness.

"Jesus, so you really did tell your dad then?" Albus was impressed. He imagined sitting down to reveal to his own father that he was gay. He was sure it would be fine, his dad wasn't a homophobe or anything. But it would be the most awkward conversation of his whole life probably. Although this one was maybe a close second.

Scorpius nodded, but said nothing more. He was now looking expectantly at Albus, who realised it was now his turn to talk about what he wanted.

"OK...um..." he felt pressured. On the spot. The truth was he didn't really know what he wanted. He had never thought about it. Mark had always insisted it be a secret and after the initial feelings of rejection had worn off, Albus just went along with it, genuinely believing and agreeing that it was easier. That was just how it was. Besides, Albus had been keeping his sexuality a secret from EVERYONE, his whole life. The idea of doing anything else was quite alien to him.

"I dunno, Scorp..." he said, at a bit of a loss for what to say. "I mean, yeah, the roommate thing is awkward. You know I couldn't give a toss what people in general think, but... I don't know, don't you think people would give us shit for it?"

"What, more than they already do?" Scorpius said, looking amused. It was a fair point. There was rife speculation about the nature of their relationship amongst the other students anyway, since they were always together and didn't hang around with anyone else. In fact, many had been mildly surprised when Scorpius had gotten himself a girlfriend. 

Oh shit, Albus thought, frowning. That was something he hadn't considered. Now THAT was complicated.

"What about Rose?" He asked Scorpius, bluntly.  Scorpius stopped smiling immediately. It seemed as if this had only just occurred to him too.

Albus was no longer just thinking about Rose though. She had kept the real nature of her break up with Scorpius a secret, because it had been embarrassing for her. But Albus doubted she would do the same with this information. Perhaps she would even turn it to her own advantage, telling everyone the story of how she and Scorpius realised that they just weren't right for each other, and how she had helped him come to terms with his real feelings. Yes, that was exactly the sort of thing she would do. And then EVERYONE would know. Her parents, his parents, his siblings. 

"Oh fucking hell" Albus said, imagining how much James would torture him if he found out that Albus was seeing Scorpius. Bloody hell, does he not have enough ammo already? Albus thought, irritably. Why don't I just hand him a rocket launcher while we're at it? Scorpius misinterpreted his outburst.

"I don't think it will be THAT bad Albus. I mean, she might be upset, but it really shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. She already knows that I have feelings for you."

"It's not just that" Albus said. "There's my whole extended family to consider. Word spreads pretty damn fast in the Potter-Weasley-Granger clan remember?"

Scorpius looked guilty. Albus thought it was just the memory of Albus himself finding out about Rose and Scorpius via a game of Chinese whispers. But Scorpius's expression turned into horror struck.

"Oh, Albus. Oh no. I think I did something bad" he said, sounding horrified. 

"What?" Albus asked, warily.

"I um... well I said I'd keep my dad posted on how things turned out, you know? And I... well, I wrote to him and told him that we started seeing each other..."

"OK..." Albus was a little taken aback, but he wasn't seeing the problem yet.

"Well I didn't... I didn't tell him not to say anything. And you know there was another one of those ministry parties this weekend. And you know your parents and Rose's parent would have been there..."

"Shit" Albus said simply. He was staring blankly into space, letting the realism of the whole thing wash over him. He kept waiting for the wave of panic to come, but it didn't. He felt surprisingly calm about it actually. Maybe even a little relieved. Maybe it was time.

"Well... that simplifies things I suppose" he said calmly. 

"I'm so sorry Al" Scorpius said desperately. "I didn't think! I'm such an idiot!"

Albus took his hand again, and held it between both of his own. 

"You're not an idiot. You're just honest. Much more honest than me" He said kindly. "Maybe this is isn't the way I wanted everyone to find out... but it's OK.  Really, it is. It's time Scorp. No more secrets." He said decisively, as though the decision had been made a long time ago, not in the last few seconds. Scorpius seemed to be stunned by his confidence. Albus had to admit, he was taking himself by surprise with how well he was handling this.

"Are you sure?" Scorpius asked, tentatively.

"Yes" Albus said confidently. And he meant it. Anyway, it was out of his hands now. Maybe that's why he was so calm. Accepting that you have no control over it is the first step in dealing with a difficult situation. If fourth year had taught him anything, then it was that.

"One of us is going to have to talk to Rose though" he said, frowning. "That has to come from us. I don't want her hearing it from James or Lily."

He took a deep breath, then he and Scorpius both said, at the same time:

"I think it should be me."

They looked at each other, both incredulous and a little amused. 

"You really think she wants to hear it from you?" Albus said, his eyebrows raised.

"I owe her that at least" Scorpius said defensively.

"Yeah but Scorp" Albus was laughing. "Literally no matter what you say all she's going to hear is 'oh Albus!'" He said it in an overtly sexual way that made Scorpius's cheeks flush.

"Fine, you do it then" he surrendered.

"I will. Tonight." He said decisively. Now that he'd decided to let this happen he was quite keen to get it all over and done with as soon as possible. Then he could just get on with enjoying being with Scorpius again.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose saw Albus making a beeline towards her practically the second she sat down for dinner. She didn't want to talk to him, but she didn't see any way of avoiding him entirely, short of just walking out of the Great Hall, which she certainly wasn't about to do. So she just sat and watched him approach, giving him the most intimidating look she could manage, hoping it might deter him. It did not.

"I need to talk to you" he said as soon as he was within earshot. He looked very serious. In spite of herself, Rose was intrigued. But not enough to fall for it.

"If this is about Malfoy then forget it" she said coldly, swinging her legs over the bench and turning her back on him, hoping he would go away, but he didn't. 

"I'm not trying to convince you to get back with him, if that's what you think" he said. He sounded desperate.

"But you are trying to convince me to forgive him, right?" She asked, turning round to show him her unimpressed expression. To her surprise, he showed no obvious signs of lying as he shook his head and said:

"No, I'm not. I just need to tell you something."

Now she was so intrigued she even forgot to be stern.

"What this about?" She asked, completely nonplussed. He shook his head again.

"Not here."

She looked at him, scrutinizing him for a minute. He did look very agitated. She had no idea what this could possibly be about. They had barely spoken all summer. Ah, maybe THAT'S what it's about, she thought. Maybe he wants to say we can still be friends, even if I can't stand Scorpius.

She had to admit, once the initial shock had worn off she had felt bad for punishing Albus for what happened. None of it was his fault after all. Towards the end of the holidays she had been making a conscious effort to be nicer to him. But she just didn't see how they could possibly hang out at school without Scorpius being involved. And she did NOT want to be involved with Scorpius, in any way whatsoever. She sighed, weighing it up in her mind whether it was even worth having the conversation. Because whatever Albus said she knew it would end with him asking her to try and forgive Scorpius. Not that he even knew what Scorpius had done. And she did NOT want to have THAT conversation. ESPECIALLY not with Albus.

"Please" he begged. "It's important."

"Urgh, fine." She snapped, sliding off the bench and marching out into the entrance hall moodily, Albus hurrying along after her. She stopped in the entrance Hall, but Albus carried on, opening the main door and stepping outside, beckoning her to follow. She frowned suspiciously at him, but followed all the same. She really was curious now as to what this could be about. If it was just about them hanging out, they could have had that conversation inside.

They walked a little way out into the deserted grounds. Albus looked around nervously, making sure no-one was there to overhear. Even though there clearly wasn't, he still spoke in a hushed tone.

"Listen... I know why you and Scorpius broke up. I know what happened. It was to do with me, right?" He said in a low voice. 

Rose was outraged. How could Scorpius have told him?! That was so embarrassing! For both of them! For all three of them! 

"Goodbye Albus" she said coldly, turning around and walking back towards the castle. Albus grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Rose - wait - No, what are you doing?"

"You said this wasn't about Scorpius" she hissed.

"No" he said desperately. "I said it wasn't about YOU and Scorpius and it isn't!" 

Rose didn't believe him. She tugged her arm free and continued to stride back towards the castle, her blood boiling. 

"It's about ME and Scorpius!" Albus burst out, jogging to catch up with her.

Rose stopped dead in her tracks. Could Albus possibly mean what she thought he meant?

She turned to look at him. He was holding his hands open in front of him, as if to show he wasn't hiding anything. His expression was fearful. Rose narrowed her eyes, dangerously.

"YOU and Scorpius?" She asked darkly.

Albus ruffled the hair at the back of his head in that stupid way he did when he was nervous.

"I... er... we're - we're together now" he said quietly.

Rose felt like she was falling down a hole. No, this can't be happening, she thought. She shook her head, trying to pull herself together. She was feeling an awful lot of emotions, but she decided to focus on the anger, as that was the easiest to process.

"How long?" She demanded, furiously.

"Oh Christ, only a couple of months" he said quickly. "Not before you broke up, I swear."

Well that was something at least. It still didn’t make it OK though.

"Who initiated?"

"Does that matter?" Albus asked desperately.

"Yes it matters!"

"Umm... I dunno really. He told me he had feelings for me, but then I was the one who kissed him. So... me, I guess."

"You KISSED him?!" 

Rose didn't know why that caught her off guard so much. Obviously if they were together now they must be kissing. But picturing her cousin and her ex boyfriend kissing was making Rose feel sick. She didn't want to think about it. So she fired more questions at Albus. Not even caring about the answers. Knowing that none of it made any difference, and that there were no possible answers that could make this all OK. But she was taking some savage pleasure in watching Albus squirm under the interrogation.

"When did he tell you about what happened with me and him?"

"That same day, after he told me he liked me."

"Is it serious?"

"Yes."

Wow. She had expected him to um and ah about that. But no, that was quite the confident answer. That just made her even more angry.

"Are you sleeping together?" She demanded, fiercely. Albus blushed.

"I - Rose... come on, I don't..."

"OH MY GOD YOU ARE?!"

She couldn't believe it. She felt sick again. She started taking some deep breaths, trying to calm down, but it wasn't working.

"Why does that disgust you so much Rose? What, because we're gay?" Albus's tone was accusatory. Rose couldn't believe he could speak to her like that at a time like this. 

"Of course it's not because you're gay Al! Jesus! It's because you're shagging my ex boyfriend you fucking dick!"

"EX being the operative word!" Albus retorted, defiantly.

"You're supposed to be my friend Al! And friends don't shag your exes!"

"Oh come on Rose, what, we're supposed to just put our feelings on hold entirely because of some stupid rule. You don't even care about him!"

"That's crap and you know it! Exes are off limits for a reason. We've only been split up for five minutes, and those feelings don't just go away! Did you ever stop to consider that? That I might still have feelings for him? Before you came over here to tell me that you're shagging him now?"

"I LOVE HIM" Albus yelled. Rose looked around in fright to make sure no-one had overheard. The grounds were still deserted. When she looked back at Albus he looked like he was about to cry.

"I'm not just shagging him Rose, I love him" Albus said passionately. "And I've loved him for a hell of a lot longer than you have, if you really want to get into THAT argument."

Rose didn't know what to say to that. She thought about all the times she had hung out with them over the past couple of years, and all the times she had seen them around before that. She thought about the way they smiled at each other when they were sharing a private joke. The way they looked so proudly at each other when they were studying and one of them got something right. The way they hugged when one of them was sad. And she knew Albus wasn't lying or even exaggerating. And she knew (she had known it ever since Albus's name had come out of his mouth, really) that Scorpius had always loved Albus too.

She turned away from Albus again, holding her head in her hands. How had she not seen it? It was so obvious. It had always been right there in front of her. She thought about how sulky and moody Albus had been for the past year or so and tried to imagine how it must have felt for him to watch herself and Scorpius grow closer, and then get together. She felt a single tear run down her cheek. She felt awful. 

"You never told me Al" she said quietly, turning to face him again. Her anger had entirely disappeared. She was still hurting, but she didn't think she could blame Albus for that anymore. "You never told anyone. How was I to know?"

He shook his head.

"You weren't supposed to know. I'm not... that's not what this is about... I just..." he sighed deeply. "I wanted to tell you before anyone else does. That's all."

Rose frowned. That didn't make sense.

"Why, who else would tell me?" She asked.

"Well, Scorpius's dad knows and so do both of our parents now. Which means James probably knows by now too and he's probably owling every single person we know as we speak. So..."

"Shit, your parents know?! Seriously?" That was BIG. She didn't think Albus was ever going to come out of the closet. He was such a secretive person in general, not just about this, she had thought he'd take it to the grave. She thought it was going to be one of those odd, unspoken family things where they all sort of wondered why Albus had never had a girlfriend, but no-one dared to mention it. 

Albus smiled grimly.

"Well I haven't received the howler yet but... yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Shit, Al…" 

Rose sat down on the grass. This evening was full of revelations. She didn't know if she could take much more. She conjured a small jar of fire and looked broodingly into it.

Albus sat down next to her and began warming his hands in front of the fire. It was June, but it wasn’t a particularly warm night and neither of them were wearing cloaks. Albus then waved his wand and muttered something. A small bottle of firewhisky appeared in front of them. He picked it up and opened it to take a sip. He then held it out to Rose. She smiled at him.

"Bloody hell, full of surprises you" she said.

"Oh please" he smiled back. "You're talking to the brother of James Potter remember? I've been sneaking in firewhisky for two years now."

She shook her head. Albus Potter, so mysterious. But in the end he was just like the rest of the family.

They sat in silence for a while, passing the bottle back and forth. Rose was getting pretty cold. She supposed they ought to go back inside soon. Dinner would be over soon, she wanted to try and grab something to eat before it was. The firewhisky on an empty stomach was making her feel a little fuzzy, even though they had only had a few swigs each.

"Are you happy Al?" She asked Albus.

"Yeah" he replied. "I really am. I didn't even know it was possible to BE this happy."

Rose smiled. 

"I'm happy for you Al" she said, sincerely.

"Really?" He asked, incredulously.

"Yeah. I mean, I wish it didn't have to be with my ex boyfriend” she shook her head and sighed with exasperation. “And I still don't think he and I can ever go back to being friends after everything that happened. But you're right Al. It was always you he was supposed to be with."

"Thanks Rose" he said quietly.

She stood up.

"I'm bloody freezing, let's go see if there's any food left shall we?"

Albus stood up too, stashing the firewhisky in his pocket, and they headed back towards the castle together. 


	4. Chapter 4

Albus hadn't noticed his parents acting out of the ordinary when they had picked him and Lily up from the station. But then, getting in and out of Kings Cross was always so hectic, what with them having to stop and talk to everyone. Scorpius had kissed him goodbye on the train and told him it was all going to be fine. Albus knew he was probably right, but he still wasn't looking forward to the fallout from his parents finding out he'd been keeping such a big secret from them. But they hadn't said anything yet. They probably don't want to do it in front of Lily, he thought. So he sat moodily in the back of the car, saying nothing, while his parents and his sister chatted away about school and about the summer. He wasn't even listening to them. Not until something vaguely registered in the back of his brain that his mother was talking to him.

"Um... sorry, what?" Albus said, blinking in surprise.

"I said, how is Scorpius getting on with his paper?" his mother repeated. She sounded genuinely interested. Albus frowned, wondering if this was some sort of segway into the inevitable interrogation about his relationship. He didn't see how he could avoid the question though, so he answered.

"Um, it's going alright I think. He got some comments from the reviewers so now he has to redraft it again because they made some suggestions about how to improve it. He said it's mostly politics though, they're just trying to get him to reference their own papers."

Albus smiled, thinking proudly about how incredibly intelligent Scorpius was. He was about to become a published author, and they hadn't even left school yet.

"I don't know how anyone can even stay awake in History, never mind write a paper on it. He must be really smart" Albus's father said. 

"He is. He's brilliant" Albus said enthusiastically, without thinking. He then inwardly cursed himself. Just invite them right in why don't you, he thought. However neither of his parents seemed to want to pursue the subject. In fact, they carried on talking as though nothing unusual was going on at all.

"It must be nice to just know what you want to do, career-wise" his mother said. "Scorpius sounds just like your dad - You always knew you wanted to be an auror didn't you Harry? He was top of his class at defence. I had no idea what I was going to do when I left school though. Just like James."

Albus was glad of the change of subject, away from Scorpius. He knew the conversation was inevitably coming, but he wanted to at least get home first.

"Is James still working in Uncle Ron's shop then?" He asked his parents.

"Actually no" His mother replied. "He's playing quidditch in the minor leagues now. I always told him he had the talent to do it, and he finally got his act together and tried out. That’s why he’s not with us – he’s in training every day, and matches every week now the season has started.”

This took Albus by surprise. He had never known his brother to take ANYTHING seriously, not even his career. But he supposed things were different after you left school. You suddenly HAD to find something to do with your life. His insides squirmed a little at the thought. He was getting awfully close to being in that situation himself. He shook his head. One thing at a time. This action didn't escape his mother's notice. She narrowed her eyes, surveying him through the rear view mirror, but said nothing. His father as always was oblivious, concentrating on the road.

When they got home Albus's father helped Lily take her bags inside. Albus heaved his own suitcase out of the boot of the car and was about to trudge in after them when his mother put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just a minute Al" she said.

Oh God, here we go, he thought. He put his suitcase down and looked at his mother. He was a little taller than she was now. It felt strange to be looking down at her. Too grown up. Especially since at this current moment he felt very small.

"I'm sorry," she said, gently. "I didn't mean to... I wasn't trying to pressure you just now. I know you haven't quite figured out what you're going to do after school, and that's fine. You can take as long as you need, you always have a home here. You know that right?"

It took Albus a minute to register that she was talking about getting a job.

"Oh right... um... thanks mum."

She smiled and went to pick up his suitcase, but he picked it up himself, saying "I've got it."

"I know" she said a little sadly, and they walked together into the house.

 

-

 

After dumping his suitcase in his room Albus went back downstairs and found his mother alone in the kitchen, looking out the window, obviously deep in thought. 

"You OK mum" he asked tentatively.

"Hmmm, what?" she said, startled. "Oh, it's nothing." When Albus looked at her sceptically she shrugged and went on.

"It's just - James is getting serious about his job and you're about to leave school. It's strange for me to see you two so grown up."

"I'm not grown up mum" Albus said, giving her a hug. "I have no idea what I'm doing. And I know for a fact James doesn't either."

His mother laughed as they broke apart. 

"I'll let you in on a secret Al, none of us do. We all just pretend."

Albus laughed too.

"Yeah I know that. Hey, did you know dad's scared of pigeons?"

"You what?"

"Yeah, he told me a couple of years ago. The famous Harry Potter. Scared of pigeons." They both roared with laughter. Albus's dad walked into the kitchen at that point and asked what was so funny. That just made the two of them laugh even harder.

He laughed a little himself, amused by their amusement.

"OK, private joke then? Look I was just going to say I'm thinking of doing a roast dinner tonight, to celebrate having you and Lils home, so it's just sandwiches for lunch, OK?"

"Sounds great hon" Albus's mother said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. Albus nodded in assent.

 

-

 

After the sandwiches Lily went back upstairs to unpack properly, but Albus hung around downstairs making a cup of tea. He was aware that now was the optimum time to have The Talk, as James wouldn't be home from work for a couple of hours and Lily was busy in her room. And he wasn't going to fight it. In fact he just wanted to get it over and done with now, he was sick of being on tenterhooks about it, just waiting for it to happen. But to his annoyance neither of his parents approached him. They were sat at the table, casually discussing what meat to have for dinner.

"Anyone want a cup of tea?" He asked, interrupting their conversation and diverting their attention to him.

"Oh, um, sure" his mother replied, looking surprised. She exchanged a significant look with his father, who then said (rather obviously):

"Yes, that sounds nice."

They waited in silence as Albus made two more cups and took them over to the table. They were still silent as Albus sat down and joined them. The tension in the room was palpable. Albus was getting really annoyed now. Seriously, was no-one going to say anything? He sighed deeply and said

"So...?"

"What's up Al?" His mother asked, looking concerned. His father just looked confused.

"Don't you want to talk about it? I thought you'd have questions" he said moodily.

"Talk about what?" His father asked, looking between Albus and his mother. His mother shook her head, to indicate she didn't know either.

"Come on" Albus said in exasperation, narrowing his eyes, looking back and forth between them. Did they really not know what he was getting at? "About Scorpius?" He said pointedly.

His parents continued to look confused.

"What about Scorpius, Al?" His mother asked.

Albus was about to say 'come on' again, but as he opened his mouth, it struck him. 

"You don't know" he said quietly, more to himself than to them. He didn't know about his mother, but his dad was a terrible liar. There was no way he'd be able to sit there looking so dumbfounded unless he genuinely didn't know what Albus was talking about. 

"Don't know what, Al?" His mother asked, concerned.

Albus felt momentarily relieved. They didn't know. Nothing needed to happen. They didn't need to have that conversation. But then he felt disappointed. He had already made peace with the idea of it all being out in the open. He had even looked forward to not having to hide it anymore. No, there was no point in lying anymore. And there was no way out of this now without lying. It had to be now. So he steeled himself and took a deep breath.

"That I'm gay" he said. He paused for a minute to let that sink in, before adding "and I'm dating Scorpius."

His father looked dumbstruck. His mother however smiled in a rather knowing way.

"You knew?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Not about Scorpius. But yes, about the other thing. I knew." She turned and nodded triumphantly at his father, from which Albus deduced that the two of them had discussed it, at least once.

Albus looked at his father, who seemed to be having some sort of internal struggle. His face was turning red.

"I'm sorry, I need a minute" he said, and got up and left the kitchen. 

Albus, to whom this was not entirely unexpected, just watched him go, feeling resentful. He was annoyed that his father seemed to be struggling with this news (especially since the gay thing apparently wasn't news), and he thought it was rather selfish of his dad to just walk out on the conversation like that. But that was just his dad. He was crap with anything that involved feelings. And he was especially crap when it came to dealing with Albus's feelings, because the two of them just didn't get each other. Albus understood that now, so he actively tried to cut his father some slack these days. But that was hard when he was being like this. 

"I'm sorry" his mother said quietly.

"YOU'VE got nothing to be sorry about" Albus replied angrily. He didn't want his mother feeling bad for his father's stupid actions. "I just... GOD, WHY is everything always so hard with him?"

"Your dad doesn't mean to be difficult" his mother said gently. "I think he just doesn't know what to say, and he doesn't want to say the wrong thing."

"YOU never say the wrong thing. It doesn't seem that hard" Albus said. He knew that he was being childish but he was too annoyed to care.

"I had a much more normal childhood than your dad" his mother said. That was one of the things Albus respected the most about his mum. She didn't often mince her words, and she wasn't afraid of talking to Albus like an adult. 

"So that's why you're normal and he isn't?" Albus said, flatly.

"That and, well, he's a bloke isn't he? Not good with emotions." His mother shrugged. Albus thought that was a pretty weak excuse, but didn’t press the matter. He just sat, stony faced, cupping his hands round his tea.

"It's alright Al, you know that right? We don't care about you being gay" his mother said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Your dad might need a little time to get used to the Scorpius thing, but he'll come round."

"Well he better get used to it, because I'm serious about Scorpius" Albus said bluntly. "So you both knew then? That I'm gay?" He added, in a more gentle tone.

"Well, not for sure, but we suspected. Or I did, at least. You know what your dad's like, wouldn't spot a house elf dancing naked in front of him. He made some throwaway comment once about you never having had a girlfriend and I said maybe you were gay. He nearly choked on his tea."

"How did you know though?"

"I'm your mum Al, I probably knew before you did. You were always just a little... different."

Albus couldn't argue with that. He couldn't believe she had known for all this time and never said anything though. He felt his levels of respect for her rise. She had been waiting for him to come to her with it, he realised. She hadn't wanted to force it out of him. His dad on the other hand was rapidly losing his respect. He had thought they were past this. Whatever had happened between his dad and Draco all those years ago didn’t matter anymore. It was in the past, and they had all agreed to let it go, hadn't they? And anyone who had spent five minutes with Scorpius could surely see how wonderful he was. How could anyone possible take issue with the two of them being together. Scorpius was about the kindest and most innocent person that Albus had ever met. If anything he worried that he might one day break Scorpius's heart. It could never possibly be the other way around.

"So how long have you and Scorpius been seeing each other?" His mother asked, smiling.

"Since around Easter" he said shyly. His mum looked surprised.

"Oh wow, quite a while then. Hadn't he only just split up with Rose then?"

"They split up at the start of the holidays, it wasn't straight away" he said defensively. "Anyway I talked to Rose about it, and we're OK."

His mother nodded. 

"I guess it makes sense" she said. "The two of you have always been so close. I did wonder once or twice if maybe there was something there. But then Scorpius starting dating Rose so I thought that was that."

"He said he always had feelings for me, he just didn’t understand what they were."

Albus was blushing. He wasn't quite sure why he had just revealed that. But beneath the embarrassment he felt proud. Emboldened, by this thought.

"You look happy, Al" his mum said.

"I am" he replied, simply.

 

-

 

Albus was ushered into his father's study not long later by his mother, who told the two of them they needed to talk. His dad nodded but didn't say anything. He was sat at his desk, still looking stressed and overwhelmed. Albus spared him a disdainful look before turning around to look around the room. He hadn't been in here very often. It looked slightly like the lair of some crazed conspiracy theorist - bits of string joining lots of pictures and newspaper cuttings in tangled webs. He recognised his dad's handwriting scrawled on notes here and there, saying things like _'animagus??? dept to send records._ " Hung over a nail in the wall was a silver locket. There was a wide berth around it of bare wall, making it look important. Albus reached out to touch it, but his father suddenly said:

"No, don't touch that!"

Albus jerked his hand back, wondering if perhaps it was cursed. He frowned at his father, wondering why he would keep something so dangerous in the house if that was the case. His father had been scowling too, but his expression softened as he said:

"Sorry... it's OK, it's just, it's really valuable. You can look at it if you want. Just be careful"

Albus wasn't exactly keen to start conversation with his father, so he did so. Carefully examining the locket, he gently opened it. There was an old bit of tattered parchment inside. He opened it slowly and read the note. It was addressed to the dark Lord and said something about a horcrux. Albus felt a chill run down his spine. This was a real artefact, from the dark days. He smiled for a moment, imagining how excited Scorpius would be about seeing this piece of history, if he were here. But the smile immediately disappeared from his face as he thought about the potential history of the locket he was holding in his hand. Had it belonged to Voldemort? He suddenly felt repulsed, and put it back on the nail.

"Why do you have that here?" He asked his father, in a somewhat accusatory tone. As though his father had tricked him into picking it up.

"It reminds me... of... things..." His dad said enigmatically. Albus supposed that was as much of an answer as he was going to get. He scowled and slumped into a chair opposite his father at the desk. 

"Right let's get this over with then" he said abruptly. He was sick of this now. He hadn't done anything wrong. He was just trying to be honest with his parents. He refused to feel bad about it.

His dad looked taken aback. 

"Look Al, I'm sorry if I'm not handling this all that well. But I'm not about to yell at you or anything. It's... fine."

Albus snorted.

"Yeah, THAT sounded convincing."

"It's IS fine. Come on Al, what do think I am? I don't care if you're... gay..."

"Your face says otherwise."

"Jesus Al, I'm just processing. Don't you ever need a minute to process something?" His dad was flaring up, which was making Albus even more angry.

"What is there to process dad? I fancy boys. It's pretty damn simple. And according to mum you both already knew that anyway."

"Well I didn't. Not really. I mean, your mum thought maybe you might be. But I..."

"You hoped not?"

Albus's dad gave him a pained look. There was a long silence in which Albus knew his dad was trying to decide whether he should answer honestly or not. Albus stared at his dad. Daring him. His dad sighed.

"I guess I did hope not, a little bit."

"A HA!" Shouted Albus, triumphantly. Even though this obviously wasn't a victory for him.

"But not because I'm not OK with it!" his dad said desperately. "Because it's just another thing I don't understand! Just another way we can't relate to each other. I didn't want any more things that made us different."

Albus let that sink in for a minute. He wondered if maybe this was at the root of his difficult relationship with his dad. Was THIS why they had so much trouble understanding each other? No, that was stupid. He thought. It was obviously much more complicated than that. But Albus considered that this might be a contributing factor. For the first time he sort of understood why this was a big deal for his dad.

"No offence dad" he said calmly "but that's stupid. We're always going to be different."

"Yeah, I know..."

There was another awkward silence. Albus felt annoyed again. It was incredibly unfair that he was the one who had to be the grown up in this situation. That he was going to be expected to comfort his dad. That's not how this was supposed to work. 

"Look dad, I know this is weird for you, but... It is what it is. I can't change it. I just wanted to be honest about it."

"I know."

Albus sighed. He had nothing else to say on the matter. He certainly wasn't going to apologise. He wished he could just leave the room, but they weren't done yet. There was one thing left to discuss.

"So what about Scorpius then?" He asked bluntly. He just wanted to get through this as quickly as possible now.

His dad sighed again and looked down at the desk. 

"It just HAD to be him, didn't it?" He muttered.

"Well I've been in love with him for about six years now" Albus said loudly and irritably. "So yeah, dad, it had to be him."

His dad looked shocked.

"Really? It's that serious?"

Albus shrugged.

"Pretty serious."

His dad looked troubled by this. 

"Are you... I mean, do we need to talk about... are you having sex?" His dad looked embarrassed. "Forget it" he added quickly. "I shouldn't have asked that, I don't want to know."

"Jesus dad!" Albus said. He could feel his face burning. "Can we NOT talk about THAT please?!"

"I know, I'm sorry, that was stupid" his dad said, looking like his was pretty keen to exit this conversation himself. "I'm not good at this Al, you know that."

"Yeah I know" Albus said pointedly.

"I just... I can't pretend I'm thrilled about the idea of you and a Malfoy... But, we've been over all this before haven't we? I said I could deal with it and I still can. I just... just give me some time to get used to it OK?"

"Fine" Albus agreed begrudgingly. He still felt like that was a little unreasonable, but it was the best he was going to get.

"Can I go now?" He asked moodily.

"We're OK, aren't we Al?" His father asked, ignoring the question. He looked pleadingly at Albus, who softened a little in spite of himself. He sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose" he replied.

"Good" his dad said, looking relieved. He gave Albus a nod, which he took to mean that he could go.

Albus went up to his room without saying anything more to anyone. He lay down on his bed, replaying the events in his head. He supposed it had gone alright. His mum had been pretty great about it actually. His dad... Well, his dad was his dad. 

He was just thinking about sending an owl to Scorpius when someone knocked on his door.

"Yeah?" He called. The door opened and his mother poked her head into the room. 

"Hey Al. I don't want to bother you but I was just wondering... do you want me to talk to Lily and James? You know, so you don't have to?"

Albus felt a sudden surge of affection for his mum.

"Yeah, that would be great actually" he said gratefully. He hadn't even thought about telling his siblings, he'd been so preoccupied with his parents. But the thought of trying to have that conversation with James was excruciating.

His mum smiled. 

"OK Al. I'll call you when dinner's ready." She started to close the door.

"Hey, mum" Albus called, and she poked her head back into the room.

"Thanks" he said. He hoped she understood the full weight of how grateful he was. She'd been fantastic today. She smiled but said nothing, then closed the door.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dad, did you tell Albus's parents about us?" The question burst out of Scorpius in a slightly manic tone, the second the car door closed. He and his father were sat side by side in the back of an estate car his father had hired to take them to the nearest floo point. They had managed to get out of Kings Cross relatively quickly this time, but even still, Scorpius was surprised he had managed to hold it in all the way to the car. 

His father seemed taken aback by the question and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Of course not" he replied calmly. "That is your business, and not mine to divulge."

"You - you didn’t say anything?"

"Not a word" the edges of his father's mouth curled "believe it or not Scorpius we do have other things to talk about at these work functions. Work, for example. That is sort of the point of them after all."

"So they don't know?"

"I can't say, but if they do they haven't mentioned it to me."

Scorpius was dumbstruck. So they hadn't been outed after all. He should have known really, his father was plenty discreet. But poor Albus! Going through all this for nothing! He imagined Albus at this exact moment, sat in the back of his parents car, waiting for the interrogation that was never going to come.

"Albus hasn't told his parents himself then I take it?" His father asked. Scorpius shook his head.

"Hmmm" his father replied, looking thoughtful. Scorpius was sure that his father had drawn certain conclusions from this, but had no idea what they were.

"I don't know why" Scorpius offered. "I don't think they'll have a problem with it. With him being gay, I mean."

"No, I shouldn't imagine they would..." his father replied, still thoughtful.

Scorpius opened his mouth to ask what his father was thinking about, but before he had chance the car stopped outside an innocuous looking fireplace shop.

 

-

 

Scorpius sent the owl to Albus as soon as they were home, knowing it was too late, but feeling as though he had to do something. It was his fault after all that Albus had been dreading this for such a long time. His fault for jumping to conclusions. He expected an owl back, hopefully from a not-too-angry Albus, telling him he was an idiot. And he got one, later that night. He opened the letter eagerly and was disappointed to see that it was only a couple of lines. However his disappointment turned to amazement as he read it.

 

_Scorp,_

_Doesn't matter, I told them anyway. It went fine, mum was great. Dad was dad. He's not mad, just disappointed. James and Lil haven't said a word._

_Albus x_

 

Scorpius ran downstairs from the library to find his father sat at the kitchen table, reading one of the academic journals that Scorpius had sent him. He looked up as Scorpius came bounding in.

"I think you're right about this article, the subject definitely needs more research." He said. "Tea?" He offered Scorpius. Scorpius had been so distracted that it took him a moment to register what his father was talking about.  

"Oh, erm… Sure, tea is fine."

His father narrowed his eyes, surveying Scorpius. As usual, he saw right through him.

"Something stronger?" He suggested.

Scorpius slid into a seat opposite him, and watched in mild amazement as his father summoned a bottle of firewhisky and two glasses from the cupboard. He had a flashback of the last time the two of them had sat here drinking firewhisky and smiled fondly. He wondered vaguely for a moment why his dad had got up to go and get the bottle that night, instead of summoning it like he did now. Scorpius supposed that the man had been in so much shock that perhaps he needed to get up and physically do something. He felt another upsurge of affection for his father, for handling it so well. And another surge of annoyance at Albus's father, for handling everything so poorly.

Just like that night, Scorpius's father waited patiently for him to speak first.

"So Albus told his parents." Scorpius told him. "He said it went fine, but... I don't think it did."

"Why not?" His father asked, eyes narrowed with interest.

"He said his dad was... disappointed."

"Hmmm" his father said, with that same expression he had had in the car.

"You knew this would happen?" Scorpius challenged him.

His father looked appraisingly at him for a moment. Scorpius could tell he was deciding how much he should say.

"Scorpius, what do you think of Mr Potter?" He asked.

Scorpius was taken aback by the question.

"He's... um,  I don't know... He's Albus's dad... I mean... what do you think of him?"

His father shook his head.

"I don't think I ought to say too much about that. I want to know what you think. What you've noticed, about him and Albus and the way they interact with each other."

Scorpius thought about that. He thought he knew what his dad was driving at, and his first instinct was to say that Harry Potter was not a very good father to Albus. But he knew that that wasn't fair. The only source of information he had about his and Albus's relationship was things that Albus let slip when he was upset. And Scorpius rather thought that Albus exaggerated, took things too personally, and had a bit of inherent paranoia about not living up to his father's expectations. However, there was no denying that Harry didn't always handle things all that well. But then, neither did Albus.

"I think the two of them are as bad as each other." Scorpius said shaking his head and taking a sip of firewhisky. "Albus pushes him away because he thinks he's a disappointment, which only makes it harder for them to talk to each other. But... I don't know, I don't think it's as bad as Al thinks it is, but I think maybe his dad is disappointed a little bit. That they're so different. Which is stupid really, because they're so alike in a lot of ways. But they just can't see it."

Scorpius's father nodded in agreement.

"I agree. And I think you made an important distinction there - Harry is not disappointed in Albus, he's disappointed by the situation, that he and his son are so estranged."

"They've been doing better. Since the whole... you know..." Scorpius offered.

"Since the two of you nearly ended the world?" His father supplied with a wry smile, refilling their glasses.

"Well, yes" Scorpius agreed bashfully.

His father was wearing that thoughtful (and slightly troubled, Scorpius now realised) expression again.

"Tell me what YOU think dad. Please." He asked sincerely. His father scrunched up his mouth, considering it, and then put his glass down and leant across the table. 

"I haven't forgotten what happened the last time Harry decided to take a more active role in his son's life" his father said in a low voice. "And I haven't forgotten how quick he was to jump to the conclusion that you were somehow a problem for Albus."

"You think he still thinks that?" Scorpius asked, worried.

"Let's just say I haven't ruled it out" his father replied darkly, taking a swig of his drink rather dramatically, in Scorpius's opinion.

Scorpius took a moment to mull that one over. So perhaps Harry wasn’t disappointed by Albus being gay, but by the fact that he had chosen Scorpius. Did their fathers really hate each other that much? Scorpius studied his father’s brooding expression, and knew that there was lingering resentment there. Scorpius didn’t really know much about what had happened back in their school days. He of course knew that the Malfoy family had been on what you might call the wrong side of the war, back then. But it was very difficult to get his father to talk about that. And when Albus and Scorpius became friends their fathers had had to deal with each other occasionally. And it was generally very civilized. But also sort of forced. And of course there was all that stuff that had happened in fourth year. But they had moved past that now, right? Apparently not, Scorpius reflected.

 

-

 

Scorpius was sat leaning against the headboard of his bed. Albus was lay next to him, his head resting on Scorpius's chest, one arm round his waist. Scorpius had one arm around Albus, and was holding open a book in front of them, showing Albus pictures of places he'd visited in Italy that summer.

It was very cosy. Scorpius had been the one to suggest looking at the book when Albus had come over, since he was clearly in a bad mood and needed distracting with something. But Albus was the one who had cuddled up to him like this. Not that Scorpius was complaining. He kissed the top of Albus's head and Albus sighed contentedly. Scorpius smiled automatically. It felt nice that he could comfort Albus like this. Even if he didn't exactly know what was wrong. Although it obviously had something to do with his family's reaction to their relationship.

Scorpius looked down at Albus. He couldn't see his face, but he seemed calm. Possibly slightly more receptive than he had been earlier. So Scorpius decided to try and open communications again.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Scorpius asked quietly.

"I told you, it went fine" Albus replied in a flat voice. 

"You don't sound fine" Scorpius replied, putting the book to one side and taking Albus's hand in his own. 

Albus sighed wearily. Scorpius didn’t say anything. When Albus had come over earlier looking sullen, Scorpius had a million questions. But Albus had brushed him off, not wanting to talk about it. He knew that the more he pressed Albus the more he would clam up. If he wanted Albus to talk he had to let him do it in his own timeframe.

Albus said nothing for a few moments. Then he disentangled himself from Scorpius and laid down on the bed properly, on his back. Looking up at the ceiling, and not at Scorpius, he finally began to talk.

"Well I told you earlier that I told them about us"

"Yes" replied Scorpius, simply. He lay down on his side facing Albus, studying his expression. He was wearing a hardened expression, the way he always did when he was upset but didn't want to admit it. Scorpius wanted to hug him, but knew that he needed space right now. So he just let lay there, listening.

"I just told them. No beating around the bush. And mum just gave me this look like she knew it all along. And she told me that she's always known that I'm gay. And dad... well..."

"What happened Albus? Was it awful?"

"He just walked out of the room."

"What, without saying anything?"

"No, he was like 'I need a minute'. So dramatic. Anyway mum made me go and talk to him and he was... urgh, he was just so uncomfortable you know? I could practically hear him wondering how he could possibly have spawned someone like me."

Scorpius frowned.

"Someone gay, you mean?"

"No, it wasn't even really about that, I don't think he's homophobic or anything. It was just... He said it's just another thing that makes us different..."

"Albus..." Scorpius couldn't help himself from sliding over to Albus and giving him a hug, wrapping one arm around Albus, his other trapped in between them.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that" he said into Albus's shoulder. Albus returned the hug, wrapping both his arms around Scorpius and pulling him closer.

"Like it's just another reason why I'm such a big disappointment" Albus whispered. Scorpius pulled out of the hug to look at Albus, but he wasn't crying. He was still wearing that steely expression. But there was great pain in his eyes. 

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that" Scorpius repeated firmly.         

"Yeah, well..." Albus sighed again, wriggling out of Scorpius's arms. Then he snorted.

"Oh god, I almost forgot, he asked if we were having sex. I nearly died of embarrassment."

"He WHAT?"

"Yeah. He took it back right away, he was like 'I don't want to know'. But yeah. Add that to the list of most awkward conversations I've ever had with my Dad."

Scorpius couldn't help but laugh.

"That must be a long list."

Albus smiled at him.

"I almost wish I'd told him we are, just to see the look on his face"

Scorpius felt his cheeks flush.

"Trust me Albus, I've had something resembling the sex talk with my Dad, and there was nothing funny about it. It's just mortifying."

This time Albus laughed, and shook his head.

"I can't imagine your dad talking about sex. Especially about gay sex. Was this before or after you told him about me?" 

"Immediately after. It was OK really, we didn't talk specifics. Just the whole 'wait until you're ready' thing."

Albus nodded.

"Yeah I guess my dad was probably thinking of giving me the same speech. But I guess he probably figured that that ship has already sailed."

Scorpius felt a little awkward, the way he always did when he was reminded that Albus had been with someone before him. It was pointless being jealous over something that was in the past, Scorpius knew that. All the same, he still didn't like the idea of his Albus being with anyone else. Especially not someone who treated him badly. He looked at Albus properly, taking it all in. He was beautiful. His dark hair in a mess (as always), just brushing the top of his eyes. His brow slightly furrowed and his breathtakingly sharp green eyes steeled against the pain building up inside him. His arms folded over his broad chest, protecting himself from anyone else trying to hurt him. Scorpius's heart melted for him. He wished he could take his pain away.

"I'm sorry, what's wrong? What did I say? You look sad." Albus had caught him looking. 

"I just... I don't understand how anyone could not see how wonderful you are" Scorpius said.

"Yeah, well..." said Albus, looking mildly flustered. "I've got you for that."


	6. Chapter 6

Albus was alone in his room working on his charms homework, when there was a knock and his brother's muffled voice came through the door.

"Hey bro, it's me. You got a minute?"

Albus sighed. He was actually making good progress with his essay and really didn’t have time for James's shit right now.

"What do you want?" He demanded moodily.

The door opened and James stood in the doorway, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"Just to talk. Please?"

This took Albus by surprise. 

"Um... OK, sure" he said, putting his quill down. James took a seat on his bed and Albus turned his desk chair around to face him. 

"So mum read me the riot act when she told me" James said. "She said under no circumstances am I allowed to joke about it, or bully you about it. In fact I'm not allowed to even mention it at all, unless YOU say you want to talk about it."

Albus wasn't sure if James was talking about the gay thing or about the Scorpius thing. He also wasn't sure why James was telling him this.

"OK..." he replied, confused.

"She really must think I'm an arse, if she really thinks I'd bully you about this."

Albus still didn’t know why James was telling him all this, so he said nothing and waited for James to go on.

"Look Al, I know you probably don't want to talk about this with me. But... I don't want to _not_ talk about it either. I don't want it to be this weird taboo thing we're not allowed to talk about. I know I'm not always... But this whole thing shouldn't be made into a big deal. Because it isn't."

Albus let that sink in for a minute.

"That's what you came here to tell me?" He asked. "That me being gay isn't a big deal?"

James rolled his eyes.

"Well it sounds kind of stupid when you put it like that..."

"No, it's not stupid" Albus said quietly.

Truthfully he was very moved. This was the absolute last thing he expected when his brother had knocked on his door. And he found that it was exactly what he needed to hear. And he felt an overwhelming rush of gratitude. He went over to the bed and hugged James, who seemed surprised, but returned the hug. He was smiling when they broke apart.

"Thanks" Albus muttered, slightly embarrassed now. James looked a little awkward too. They probably hadn't hugged in years. Albus sat on the other end of bed and James cleared his throat.

"I guess that probably seems a little hypocritical coming from me, but..." James muttered, looking down at the floor.

"Well I WAS kind of expecting you to give me a whole load of shit about this to be honest” Albus smiled. But I guess you're cooler than I thought."

"I am very cool" James agreed, looking up and grinning. "I still can't get over the fact that you just _came out_ to them like that though. Just like that" James shook his head in disbelief. "You really are the bravest person I know, Al."

Albus blushed a little. Compliments from James were exceedingly rare. 

"Full disclosure - I kind of thought they already knew" Albus admitted. James raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really? I mean, I had my suspicions. But _mum and dad_? Come on, they're completely clueless."

This revelation took Albus by surprise. Bloody hell, first mum and now James, he thought. Am I really that predictable?

"And hey don't worry about Robo-Dad. He just needs to reprogram his circuits with the new information." James grinned, but Albus (who had never taken muggle studies) just looked blankly back at him again.

"Because he's like a robot. He doesn't have feelings." James explained.

"What's a robot?" Albus asked, confused. James laughed.

"Bloody hell Al, were you not going out with a muggle born all last year? Didn't you pick anything up?"

Albus blushed.

"I didn't know you knew about that" he said shyly.

"I can put two and two together Al" James said smugly. "Overnight you became best mates with a quidditch player? Come on."

Albus merely shrugged, unsure what to say about this. He supposed to an outsider it must have seemed weird, that he and Mark spent so much time together. But it never occurred to him that his brother actually noticed anything Albus did.

"You have no idea how much confusion that caused in my social circle" James laughed. "What did the two of you even talk about?"

"We... didn’t do an awful lot of talking..." Albus admitted, his cheeks burning. James laughed even more.

"Look at you Al" he said, impressed.

"Yeah... well..." Albus replied bashfully.

"You and Scorpius seem like a much better match" James said. "A lot more in common."

"Yeah" Albus replied smiling. "Yeah, it's much better. I thought dad was going to have a heart attack when I told him though."

"Don't worry about dad" James repeated firmly.

"I'm not _worried_ , I just... it's hard, you know?"

"I know" James said quietly. "Him and mum were arguing about it last night while you weren't here."

"They were?" Albus asked, sitting up a little straighter. 

"Yeah. She told him he needs to suck it up and at least pretend he's OK even if he's not. He said he is OK but he just doesn't know what he's supposed to do."

Albus shook his head in frustration.

"What he's _supposed_ to do? He doesn't have to do ANYTHING other than NOT be such a tool about it."

James looked conflicted.

"I think he's trying Al. It's just... awkward, you know?"

"It's not awkward for anyone else. It's not awkward for you."

"Yeah well, that's not really a fair comparison is it? Also, I'm not your dad. I'm not supposed to be giving you life advice."

"But you are" Albus pointed out.

"Yeah well, someone has to don't they?" James said smiling again. "Hey, do we need to talk about the birds and the bees?"

Albus snorted.

"It's a bit late for that. Besides, dad did already ask me about it."

"What? Seriously?" James laughed.

"Seriously. It was a very brief conversation but still humiliating."

"Wow, I would pay good money to see dad trying to talk to you about sex" James was highly amused now. "Do you think he even knows how gay sex works?"

"Urgh, I don't want to know" said Albus, and they both laughed. 

"Seriously though" James said, when he stopped laughing. "I know it's a bit weird, but if you ever do want to... like, if there's stuff you don't know... you can talk to me, OK?"

Albus raised his eyebrows. This was way above the brotherly call of duty in his opinion.

"Umm, thanks but that's OK" he said. "No offence but I'm not sure you totally know everything about it either."

James laughed.

"Wow, harsh" he gave Albus a playful punch on the arm.

"No, James, I didn’t mean it like that” Albus replied earnestly. “I just mean... I mean, it's not the same, is it? I know you're older and everything but you still probably don't know all much about gay sex." 

James frowned at him in confusion.

"And that's OK" Albus added. "I wouldn't expect you to. But don't worry, I've picked up... the things I need to know."

James continued to frown at Albus, scrutinizing him. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. Albus raised his eyebrows again, as if to say 'what?'

"Al" James said quietly but clearly. "You do know that I'm gay, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See my other works for the next part of this story, which involves James and Teddy coming out to Harry and Ginny.


End file.
